Saturday

UPDATE:
Here's our new cover for Get Jazzy Talk Dirty Special Edition: Venus In Furs... with poetry and fiction by Ty Spencer Vossler and Rony Nair.

Do
you know S&M? Bondage? Spanking, whips, torture, etc for sexual pleasure?
Masochism. Well, that word "Masochism" is derived from our author's
name Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch. He's Austrian from the Victorian Age (1800s)
who wrote about this guy named Severin who enjoyed inducing physical pain
during sex.

It's amazing. This book was written in 1869, before my
grandparents were born! Before my great, great grandparents even, but it's
shockingly dirty.

So, if you thought way, way back was boring (no TV, no
androids) think again.

I even found pornographic photos from the 1800s--when
women wore bathing trunks (shorts to their knees) to the beach a far, far,
remote relative of bikinis. Rated X stuff when Queen Victoria was in power?
Wasn't Victorian Morality exemplified by sexual restraint and strict social conduct?

Well, here it is. The 91/2 Weeks, the 50 Shades of Gray of the 19th century,
the original sexy clinically psychiatric novel, Venus In Furs!

Reader's Review of Venus In Furs

"To be the slave of a woman, a beautiful woman, whom I love, whom I worship - !""And who mistreats you for it," Wanda broke in, laughing."Yes, who ties me up and whips me, who kicks me when she belong to another man."

If submission and bondage is your thing, then you will probably like this book. In a nutshell, Severin likes women. Severin likes women who are filthy rich. Severin likes women who are filthy rich and treat him like shit. Wanda is that woman. That is pretty much what Venus in Furs is about.

Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch apparently drew from his own masochistic experience with Baroness Fanny Von Pistor. He agreed to be her slave, and renounce all claim on his own life (she could even kill him if she wished), and this is reflected in Venus in Furs. The "contract" gives Wanda (or "Mistress") free reign to make Severin suffer in a variety of ways; whipping him regularly, kicking him around, starving him, torturing him emotionally, etc. And Severin seems to get off on it. In fact, he begs her to punish him ("I want to be your dog"). As long as she wears her furs whilst doing it, he's happy.

As you can imagine, the novel caused quite a stir in Austrian society. The idea of a woman being dominant (having the whip-hand, so to speak) was ludicrous to most people. We even see Wanda feeling hesitant at first. She is reluctant to defy social norms, and I can sort of understand this. She is used to being dominated, not the other way around. She is understandably creeped out by Severin to begin with, but I think thats mainly because he keeps kissing her feet and telling her to stand on his neck. He is, to put it bluntly, a pussy. I can think of no other word for him. He also has a habit of falling in love with statues, and treating them as though they were real. Despite all this, Wanda eventually overcomes her apprehension, after realizing that she *really* likes being in control.

There are many gender issues in this book, and I'm deliberately avoiding that long and winding road known as "Interpretation" as I will end up making no sense whatsoever. What I will say is that I was interested by the handsome, androgynous Alexis Papadopolis, who is so drop-dead gorgeous that literally *anyone* will fall in love with him. For example:

"He was a man like a woman. He knew he was beautiful and behaved accordingly; he would change his coquettish attire four or five times a day, like a vain courtesan.In Paris he had appeared first in women's garb, and the men had stormed him with love letters. An Italian singer, famous equally for both his art and his passion, invaded the Greek's apartment, knelt down, and threatened to take his own life if his plea was not granted."

See what I mean? Even Severin has a bit of crush on him. I had to keep reminding myself that this book was written in 1869. At times, it voices startlingly modern sentiments. Sacher-Masoch certainly wasn't your average Austrian.

I gave Venus in Furs four stars because I enjoyed it rather more than I was expecting. The ending pissed me off a bit, as did Severin's constant cries of "Wanda!" (I counted eighteen times in 148 pages) but Sacher-Masoch writes so well that you find yourself unable to stop reading. Give it a go. I dare you.

wild child. It is,
perhaps, a prince in disguise. What a lesson to man!", Henry David Thoreau
(1862)

In the contemplative
"Wild Apples", Thoreau illustrates the essence of people as it
parallels with wild apples.

SHALLA Magazine's
Special Edition of "Wild Apples" by Henry David Thoreau features
artistic, vintage art and photography from the 1800s and works by Gary Beck,
Andrew Hogan, John Kaniecki, etc Edited by Shalla Art